Blog Tour: GENA/FINN by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I'm hosting authors Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson for their blog tour for Gena/Finn! In a fun video they share book recommendations from their characters. Some of my favorite books are included! Watch the video and then enter for a chance to win a copy of Gena/Finn.

Gena/Finn

By Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson

Published by Chronicle Books; May 17, 2016

Gena and Finn would have never met but for their mutual love for the popular show Up Below. Regardless of their differences—Gena is a recent high school graduate whose social life largely takes place online, while Finn is in her early twenties, job hunting and contemplating marriage with her longtime boyfriend—the two girls realize that the bond between them transcends fanfiction. When disaster strikes and Gena's world turns upside down, only Finn can save her, and that, too, comes with a price. Told through emails, text messages, journal entries, and blog posts, Gena/Finn is a story of friendship and love in the digital age.

YA Book Recommendations from Gena and Finn

"This one definitely kicks up some emotional landmines; it’ll also make you legit lol, hard."—Barnes & Noble blog

"If Hannah Moskowitz writes it-or in this case, co-writes it-I will read it."—Leila Roy, Bookshelves of Doom, a Kirkus Reviews Blog

“Vividly portrays the minute-to-minute nature of modern communication.” —Publishers Weekly

“It's very satisfying to see this moment in fandom and Internet-originating relationships so capably represented.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Allows readers to close the cover pondering all the different ways humans can love.”—School Library Journal
“This portrayal of the fan world is spot-on… focused firmly on the real, messy relationships that can form in the digital age.”—Booklist

GIVEAWAY

Must be 16 year old or older to enter

US/Canada Addresses Only

Prize will be distributed by the publisher

Invalid entries will be disqualified

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hannah Moskowitz is the acclaimed author of numerous middle grade and young adult novels, including A History of Glitter and Blood. She lives in New York City.

Kat Helgeson writes young adult novels and lives in Chicago with her husband and a healthy preoccupation with fictional characters.

Hanna and Kat first met online in a fan fiction forum for the TV show Supernatural, and IRL at a fan con.

Blog Tour: A HISTORY OF GLITTER AND BLOOD by Hannah Moskowitz

Today I'm hosting author Hannah Moskowitz as part of the A History of Glitter and Blood bog tour. I became a fan of Hannah's books when I first read her YA contemporary Invincible Summer and then Gone, Gone, Gone. I have several of her books in my TBR pile and I've just added A History of Glitter and Blood to it. Check out my interview with Hannah, read an excerpt from her new book, and then enter for a chance to win a copy.

Welcome Hannah!!

What are some of the books that made you fall in love with reading and writing?

I read Tuck Everlasting when I was eight, and I remember reading the first few pages over and over again, particularly the line about how the dog days of summer were like being paused on top of a Ferris wheel, and just really having a love affair with words for the first time. I also have a huge amount of affection for Andrew Clements's The School Story, which taught me all about how publishing works. I read it in fifth grade and my best friend (who's still my best friend!) and I immediately started scheming about how we were going to get our books published.

And I have to give a shout out to Bears on Wheels, because that's the first book I read on my own, after my sister taught me to read.

What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?

Get distance from your book. Sometimes this means actually putting time between yourself and the last draft, but for me a lot of the time it just means being able to take a figurative step back and try to see the book as a whole and not as a bunch of paragraphs, or scenes, or chapters. You have to get a sense of what the whole book looks like in its current form before you can tell what needs to be changed.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Stop calling yourself "aspiring." You're writing. You're a writer.

Tell me 5 things about yourself.

• I'm an ex-opera singer.
• I always have bruises on me because I think walls and corners are suggestions.
• I run a pretty popular chronic illness humor tumblr. 
• I'm a redhead, as of yesterday.
• I am unbelievable at pig latin.

Thanks for sharing!

A History of Glitter and Blood

By  Hannah Moskowitz

Ages 14 and up

August 2015

Sixteen-year-old Beckan and her friends are the only fairies brave enough to stay in Ferrum when war breaks out. Now there is tension between the immortal fairies, the subterranean gnomes, and the mysterious tightropers who arrived to liberate the fairies. But when Beckan's clan is forced to venture into the gnome underworld to survive, they find themselves tentatively forming unlikely friendships and making sacrifices they couldn't have imagined. As danger mounts, Beckan finds herself caught between her loyalty to her friends, her desire for peace, and a love she never expected. This stunning, lyrical fantasy is a powerful exploration of what makes a family, what justifies a war, and what it means to truly love.

Read an Excerpt 

(link to Scribd.)

About Hannah Moskowitz

Hannah Moskowitz wrote her first story, about a kitten named Lilly on the run from cat hunters, for a contest when she was seven years old. It was disqualified for violence. First published at sixteen, she is the author of two middle grade and six young adult novels. Her books have received starred reviews, landed a spot on the ALA’s Rainbow Book List, and received a Stonewall Honor. Hannah lives in New York City.

Win a copy of A History of Glitter and Blood

(provided by Chronicle Books)

Must be 16 or older to Enter

US and Canada Addresses

Enter via Rafflecopter

Invalid entries will be disqualified

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In My Mailbox (49)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme run by Kristi at The Story Siren which explores the books that have been delivered to our mailbox or doorstep or directly into our hot little hands.

Purchased:

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Gifted:

Break by Hannah Moskowitz

RAK from Jen! Thank you!!

Review:

Scarred Lions by Fanie Viljoen

Thrill Seekers by Edwina Shaw

Huge thank you to Ransom Publishing!

Thanks so much to Jen for the Random Act of Kindness! Jen and I met on Twitter through the recent Bout of Books Read-a-thon. I started following a lot of new people and blogs which was great. Amanda another read-a-thon in the works at On a Book Bender. Anyone who is interested should visit her blog and then sign-up on October 6th. I think I will save Perfect to read until then.

I also received Scarred Lions and Thrill Seekers from Ransom Publishing. These titles are from their Cutting Edge series - quick reads for reluctant readers. The stories sound incredible and I plan to feature them in the upcoming weeks on my blog. These titles are from the UK, so they may not be readily available to my US readers.

Now that I've shared my books for the week, I'll be stopping by other blogs to see what everyone else got.

TGIF: Author Love

TGIF is hosted by Ginger over at GReads! Head on over and link up!

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This Friday's Question:

Author Love:

In 2011 which new/old authors have your discovered and loved?

 

In looking over my books read so far this year, I realized, with the exception of David Levithan, the authors are all new to me. I may have heard of them before and may even own a few of their books, but it is the first time I've read any if there books. For some reason, I am amazed by this. I have enjoyed all of them but the one that I am most impressed by and eager to read more of is Hannah Moskowitz. I loved her novel Invincible Summer. If you interested, you can read my review here. I was amazed by the complexity of her characters and the depth that she took them to. I was mesmerized by the story and thought about it for days after reading it. I know I'll read it again before the summer is over.

 Even though she is new to me, I'm excited to know that Invincible Summer is her second novel and I have her first novel Break to hunt down and read. Plus she has more books in the future! Gone, Gone, Gone is already on my wish list! I think she's an author to know about AND she's fun to follow on twitter @hannahmosk

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

Noah’s happier than I’ve seen him in months. So I’d be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It’s not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah’s happiness because of a kiss?

Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family’s beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive....

Not your typical beach read. (from Goodreads)






I love books about summer. And as I am longing for summer to hurry up and get here (yes, I know spring has just begun), this is the perfect book to read. Told from the perspective from middle-brother Chase, we get to look into the lives of the functioning dysfunctional McGill family.


Chase loves the summer, he loves the beach and his family, especially his older brother Noah. Every summer, the family vacations at their beach house where they spend the long days with their neighbors, the Hathaways - Melinda, Shannon and Bella. The story begins with Chase's 15th summer as he takes care of his deaf younger brother Gideon, out-of-control sister Claudia, and awaiting for the arrival of his new baby sister. He is having a good time catching with his friends, quoting Camus at any available opportunity but all he wants, more than anything, is for Noah to be around more - and for his parents to fight a little less.

The story continues with the family returning to the beach house every summer but as the years pass and the siblings grow older, Chase begins to realize that nothing can remain the same. Life gets more complicated, girls make it more complicated and summer can't last forever.

I loved this book so much. I loved the exploration of the dynamics of such a large family with each sibling playing to their respective roles. Claudia, too grown-up for her own good brought humor and a dose of reality to the family. I was worried about her, but at the same time her insight was refreshing. She could see through all the crap and let you know about it too.

Invincible Summer is a quick, but not light summer read. It will have you longing for hot summer days, the breeze coming off of the ocean, and a time that you will always want to remember and can never forget.

Invincible Summer is the second novel by Hannah Moskowitz. It is available now from Simon Pulse. You can visit Hannah's blog at http://hannahmosk.blogspot.com/

I requested this book for review from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab and this review is based on the Advanced Reading Copy.